All tagged divine

Of Prayer and Missions; Born In the Divine Mind

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Divine Prayer

I have been thinking, and writing, a great deal recently about two subjects; prayer, and missions. This morning I was reading E. M. Bounds, and his devotional today was titled "Born in the Divine Mind". It dealt with these very same subjects, and as I read the words of Pastor Bounds I was captured by his thought as he ended his message in this way: "Both prayer and missions were born in the Divine Mind. Prayer creates and makes missions successful, while the success of missions lean heavily on prayer." - E. M. Bounds

“And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Luke 10:2 ESV

Spiritual Compassion vs Moral Compassion

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Spirit Compassion

The subject of my devotional reading this morning was spiritual compassion, and the scriptural reference used to lead into this topic was Psalm 112:4. This Psalm begins by speaking about the characteristics of a man that fears the Lord and upholds His commandments. The psalmist lists things like prosperity, righteousness and fearlessness, and then builds to the apex of the message which is compassion. At this point the Psalm goes on to define a "good man" and each illustration given centers on compassion. Compassion is the true message of Psalm 112, and goes hand in hand with righteousness.

Yielding to God’s Divine Guidance

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Accepting Divine Guidance

We seek out our salvation but not always in the way we really should. Too often we read scripture and confuse doing things ourselves with having just asked the Lord to lead us. Does this sound like you? Well for the longest time it certainly sounded like me. I would pray for forgiveness, redemption, provision, healing, and so many other things, but rather than trusting in God to take charge of what I had just asked of Him I would act as though I had merely invited Him to watch over me as I did it all myself. I considered the fear and trembling of seeking my salvation to mean that I should be afraid that I might fail, but that is not what this passage means at all. The very next verse tells us something quite different; listen: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Our Lives and Divine Providence

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Divine Providence

As we look back on our lives, even the times before we came to know God, and Jesus Christ, we recognize God’s hand moving in them. As we mature in faith we come see that His plan, and will for us, was at work long before we were able to know it for what it was. The love, and thoughts of God are surrounding us always, and He knows each of us, those who are good, and even the bad, down to our most intimate thoughts and life’s details. He asks us to humbly abandon our ways, and seek His, but are we walking this lofty road he has prepared for us? Are we seeking to know His thoughts for us?